A/HRC/37/47 things, on ways to improve the international protection response for children affected by conflict. In March 2017, the previous Special Representative also travelled to Geneva to present her annual report for 2016 to the Human Rights Council. 55. In June, the new Special Representative travelled to Geneva to meet with Genevabased counterparts and to reinforce the work of her Office with entities based there, to which she introduced her vision for the future of the mandate and articulated her view for enhanced partnerships moving forward. In that context, she met with the Group of Friends of Children and Armed Conflict, which is co-chaired by Belgium and Uruguay, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the United Nations High Commissioners for Refugees and for Human Rights. She also attended meetings with the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bern. 56. Within the United Nations system, the Office of the Special Representative has continued to support the efforts developed as part of the Secretary-General’s Human Rights Up Front initiative. Concerns relating to children and armed conflict have also been mainstreamed in Organization-wide initiatives on human rights issues. For example, the Office has been working with UNICEF, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to analyse the issue of the consolidation of specialized protection functions in peace operations. The issue of maintaining an adequate presence of child protection advisers in United Nations peace operations has also been an important focus during the period. Much effort has been exerted by the Special Representative and her Office to ensure that a critical level of child protection staff is maintained in the face of budget constraints. Upholding this capacity is vitally important to continue protecting children’s rights through mainstreaming child protection, conducting dialogue on action plans, releasing and reintegrating children and for monitoring and reporting. V. Recommendations 57. The Special Representative expresses her concern in relation to the increased use of besiegement as a tactic of war, reminds all parties to conflict of their obligations under international law regarding the provision of assistance to the civilian population and implores them to depoliticize the delivery of humanitarian aid to children. Specifically, clear orders should be disseminated among the rank and file to specify that humanitarian assistance for children should be facilitated in all circumstances. She urges the Human Rights Council to reinforce those messages in its work and for commissions of inquiry and other mechanisms to focus on this grave violation in their work. 58. The Special Representative urges the Human Rights Council to focus on the issue of grave violations, trafficking and human sale in resolutions and urges it to promote the non-criminalization of all child victims. She also encourages the Council to prioritize the provision of support services for children who have been subject to violations and abuse in situations of armed conflict. 59. The Special Representative urges Member States and regional and subregional organizations to support her Office and other child protection actors to carry out lessons-learned initiatives in order to compile comprehensive best practices on the children and armed conflict mandate. Those best practices will be essential in discussions with parties to conflict, including on reducing the impact of the conduct of hostilities on the rights of children. 60. The Special Representative welcomes the leadership and contribution of regional and subregional organizations in the protection of children. She calls upon all such organizations to work closely with her Office to enhance legal protection frameworks and facilitate the better integration of child protection considerations into their policies, operational planning and training of personnel. 61. Recalling that the issue of the reintegration of children is crucial to ensuring long-term peace, security and sustainable development, the Special Representative 15